A Matter of Beverage
by Alpha Centarus
Summary: War is not kind nor gentle and it is not a game for children to play because when war comes a tsunami follows and blood, death, and grief take their toll. Even bravery has it's price; and it's never come cheap.


**A Matter of Beverages**

Disclaimer: I never have and never will own Naruto or the characters in it…unfortunately.

None of them ever thought of such inconsequential things as how they drank their coffee, or which tea was chosen for that particular sitting, it had not mattered. But now, with fresh memories and even fresher wounds burned, beaten, and battered into their skin, branding their minds with sorrow and regret, it now had an importance. After so long of losing family, friends, and sanity. It was the little things which prevented them from shattering into millions of little mirror pieces each as blank and empty as the last.

Whether it was practical or sentimental each had their own meaning and it was out of respect that no one actively fished for explanations, giving them the benefit of the doubt that the war hadn't ripped every humane feeling and memory from them.

Naruto: mild spicy teas (because Iruka loved the tea and gave it to him when he was younger and the childish words of 8 year olds cut deeper than any kunai, telling him that cinnamon and spice are for good memories…)

Sasuke: boring green teas according to Naruto (they remind him of his brother and his taste for simple teas, he has always thought it ironic that the very tea which his beloved brother loved for its simplicity and blandness is what he chooses to represent himself with)

Sakura: coffee black and strong enough to kill a horse (enough to give her a boost and keep her alert through all the long hours spent in the lab bent over test samples of toxins and antidotes, and in the brief respite after sewing someone's intestines back into their stomach)

Hinata: fruity teas (after all she is a clan heiress and as such is supposed to like feminine things, not to mention how much easier it is to kill someone if they underestimate you and are holding a hot liquid in their hands)

Shino: bloody orange juice (well, when you have flesh-eating kikai bugs who require a constant intake of food living inside you, the term 'drinking your enemies blood' takes a whole new meaning, especially when mixed with orange juice.)

Kiba: milk by the gallon ( after all it keeps you healthy, tastes great, and come on, pearly white fangs snarling at you? Who wouldn't be scared?)

Lee: protein shakes for good health ( when he opens the gates it puts an enormous amount of strain on his body, which during war time is not helpful as the pain sometimes gets so bad he can barely move. The protein helps his body recover faster than normal, some say it is a curse, he says it is a blessing because with the protein it is easier to protect his precious people)

Neji: water from a canteen ( as ANBU Commander he is responsible for the lives of all his soldiers, and keeping them alive means trusting nothing that is not collected by a member or provided by Konoha)

Tenten: preferably unsweetened cranberry juice concentrate (the strongest non-alcoholic burn-a-hole-through-your-stomach substance you can get, not to mention 'it's a bad-ass drink for a bad-ass lady' Naruto would say jokingly, she thinks it's a much needed reminder of failure and hope lost to deadly lightening.)

Ino: rich coffee loaded with milk and served in a purple flowery mug covered with amaranths and roses (the one time a newbie remarked on the rose patterned mug the head of the T&I Division carted around daily, they were sent to the hospital for a few months. After all, the mug was the last thing she had of her parents and the flowers symbolized their immortal love for their daughter, everything else was obliterated by the flames)

Shikamaru: mango juice consumed with a side of dark humor (he really wasn't a fruity type of person but it was the least he could do in remembrance of his cherished wife and unborn child, even after Gaara told him it wasn't his fault he just couldn't quite believe it.)

Choji: an IV drip (the last attack by Madara and Pein was aimed at a shinobi hospital where Sakura was working non-stop, Choji saw the destruction headed their way and expanded his body to protect the building, after that…well. No one was ever meant to do something of that magnitude regardless of a bloodline.)

Battered and broken as they were, they still stood strong, doing their jobs with a finesse and precision born from long years of practice. Hoping that the war would one day be over and that when it did there would be something left of the ashes to look forward to.


End file.
